Thursday, February 6, 2014

Open Thread to Beat the Winter Blues...




Now is the winter of our discontent.

- Richard III (Act I, Scene I) by W. Shakespeare



I apologize, but this week I am tapped out. With the constant roiling swirl of discontent, it is hard to focus. So for today, let's riff on what is making this a "winter of discontent" or, more importantly, is there anything that is going right? Okay, the 40 gagillion-eth snow of the January isn't helping, but what would make you happy?

As always, please feel free to change the subject at any time. Does anyone know any good jokes?

28 comments:

Kit said...

...made glorious summer by this son of York

Kit said...

"And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover,
To entertain these fair well-spoken days,
I am determined to prove a villain
And hate the idle pleasures of these days."

AndrewPrice said...

Anything going right? Most things are going right, Bev!! Look around you. It's a beautify world and billions of people are out there trying to make it better. :D

How about this...

Disease, crime, genuine poverty are way down. Starvation is all but unheard of. Science is getting closer all the time to curing all that ails us. Global cooling means big things for the coat industry! Look at all the toys and luxuries we have. Look how shocked we are when a 70 year dies "so young." Look at what the internet has done to let us meet people we never would have before.

These are times that anyone in history would love to live in.

Anthony said...

Well said Andrew. I think a lot of people get too worked up over minutia.

I love following and even talking about minutia more than most, but I don't let it determine how I feel about my life. I have a job (not my ideal job, but a job is a job), a gorgeous, loving wife and two daughters (once they are teens they maybe be a headache especially since they have their mother's beauty, but for now they are easier than boys).

There's a lot of evil and stupid crap going on in the world (there always is), but we shouldn't let that cloud our days.

Critch said...

I would just like a little break in the cold and precip to get some things done outside. Also, it's just been too cold and the footing treacherous for these old bones to go out in the woods much lately, I need a walk around my woods.However, it's winter in the northern hemishphere and sometimes it's just this way...so, what would make me happy? Oh I don't know,,,maybe Eric Holder being indicted for perjury. It's not hard to please me...of all the scandal this aministration has had, Fast and Furious and Benghazi have me the most angry because good people died as the result of stupidity on the part of people who are supposed to be smart.

tryanmax said...

My feet have been cold for days, so I understand how Bev is feeling.

That said, I'm glad not to live back East. Why are things so fragile there? A raccoon farts in Philadelphia and a quarter of the city loses power! Here we get nasty wind storms all the time (like, every storm is a wind storm--it's implied) but the last time I experienced an outage was thanks to some jackhole driving into the pole outside.

Of course, I would be inclined to believe that Philly is filled with jackholes who can't drive. But then what does the weather have to do with it?

Critch said...

Oh, one of the funniest jokes I know:
A British general, in the heat of a battle in Africa looked at his footman and said, “Smedley, bring me my red coat.” Smedley said, “But sir, you will stand out in the crowd, it is very dangerous.” The general said, “But Smedley, if I’m wounded the men won’t see my blood as easily and will continue to fight. Now hurry.” Smedley retrieved the coat and the British Army won another battle.

Months later, the same general and his men were up to their necks in savages, things looked bad and the General looked at Smedley and said, “Smedley, I need you to get me something.” Smedley said, “Your red coat sir?”

“No Smedley, my brown pants.”

tryanmax said...

And another thing! Why is the "c" in "indicted" silent? Shouldn't it at least be turned to a "gh"?

tryanmax said...

But here's something to be glad about: Nostalgic 1950's Americana...in Moscow!

Roll, Khrushchev! Roll in your grave! Ha ha!

BevfromNYC said...

Tryanmax - I get it! That silent "c" is just a waste? Who made up these words anyway? And I am all for repealing the "I" before "E" except after "C" legislation too! It's archaic and useless rules like these that hold us back as a civilization! THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!!!

AndrewPrice said...

Anthony, Exactly. It's very easy to focus on the crap because that tends to be what people talk about the most. But there is much else to life and we shouldn't lose focus on that. Life is good. The vast majority of humanity are good people. The world is a great place and keeps getting better. So never lose track of that. :)

BevfromNYC said...

Tryanmax - Meanwhile at Sochi, they are still clearly in Old Soviet territory...LINK

AndrewPrice said...

tryanmax, Do you know what the problem is? It's the way the cities were built. Since they grew big before most modern conveniences, a lot of their equipment is old and not well designed. It also means that the electrical lines were added later and thus hang from wires because it cost too much to bury them. That means that snow and trees and strong storms knock them out. Out west, everything is underground, where it's protected.

BevfromNYC said...

Anthony - I think that the problem is that so many people get caught up in the minutia and lose sight of the big picture. Or, in other words, "they can't the forest for the trees". It's draining. Well, that and the constant lies that aren't really lies because they are "government" lies which is supposed to make it okay. But I digress....

BevfromNYC said...

Andrew - STOP BEING SO CHEERFUL AND POSITIVE! IT'S ANNOYING...;-)

[Did I write that out loud?]

AndrewPrice said...

Ok, Bev, how's this...

1. Sochi sounds like hell's doorstep.
2. I think I'm getting carpal tunnel fingertip. :(

BevfromNYC said...

Andrew - That's better...a little less optimist and little more curmudgeon. As a matter of fact, I deem today as "Glass Half Empty" Day. A new national holiday and you heard it here first!

However you should have that fingertip looked at...

tryanmax said...

Andrew, I'm not far enough west for everything to be buried. In the new parts of town, yes, but not most of the city. There were widespread outages here end of last month. I think they lasted about eight hours. I know there's a lot of redundancy built into the system around here. (Wasn't when I was a kid; outages were much more frequent.) Is maybe that what's lacking?

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, "Glass Half Empty Day"! Nice! I wonder if we can get a Congresscritter to pass that into law? Heck, they don't read what they vote for! :)

As for my finger, I'm looking at it right now and it's not helping. :(

AndrewPrice said...

tryanmax, The East Coast grid is all around out of date. So even when they update something, it's like putting a new engine block into an old car without changing anything else. And the problem tends to be that one downed wire can often lead to widespread blackouts -- and you rarely have only one downed wire. So the more overhead stuff you have, the more likely you are to get power outages.

I honestly can't think of a single outage in my lifetime in Colorado, but they happened constantly in Virginia and West by God Virginia -- and when they did, they lasted for hours or even days.

BevfromNYC said...

Andrew - When I said "you should have that fingertip looked at", I meant by somebody else. It's like a watched pot, if you look at it yourself, it will never boil...wait, that didn't sound right.

I think we could make "Glass Half Empty Day" a worldwide phenomenon just like "International Talk Like A Pirate Day"! Hallmark would love it. But, there is a big downside, so it probably would never work. ;-(

tryanmax said...

Part of my reaction is the "WTF is this news!?" effect.

AndrewPrice said...

Because of the pirates or the power outages?

BevfromNYC said...

Because of the pirates or the power outages?

Andrew - Neither...it's the pervasive pessimism.

tryanmax said...

"Glass Half Empty Day" would never work. That just means that I'm halfway to my next beer. (But am I almost halfway, or only halfway? Hmmm...)

Andrew, it's the grid pirates, stealing all the power and diverting it to Barbados.

AndrewPrice said...

BTW, If anyone is interested in Helix, the SciFi Channel is doing a marathon tonight from the beginning. It's a pretty good show with some excellent surprises.

AndrewPrice said...

Barbados, a wretched hive of scum and touristry... and stolen electricity.

BevfromNYC said...

I hate it when Barbadian pirates steal electricity. I keep tripping over their very long extension cords...

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